Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) smiles during a news conference on the legislation passed in the first 100 legislative hours of the 110th Congress in the Capitol in Washington January 18, 2007. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES) 0

Photo: KEVIN LAMARQUE

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) smiles during a news...

PELOSI LEADS DEMS TO EARLY VICTORIES / Speaker fulfills pledge to pass key bills in new Congress' first 100 hours

2007-01-19 04:00:00 PDT Washington -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her House Democrats celebrated the completion of their initial 100-hour legislative agenda on Thursday, although Republicans said the majority's timekeeping was odd, to say the least, and its tactics heavy-handed.

Now the harder work begins for Pelosi and her troops. They must confront President Bush over a war in Iraq they universally scorn, revamp a budget they want to bring back into balance, fix an immigration policy they say is terribly broken and soothe a warming Earth they fear is on the edge of epic climate change.

It is a daunting agenda that goes way beyond the "Six for '06" package of poll-tested, focus-grouped items the Democrats easily passed in the opening salvo of the new Congress with varying levels of support from Republicans still trying to figure out life in the minority.

"In the past two weeks, we have delivered on change. We have shown that the House is not a place where good ideas go to die," Pelosi said.

"It's the beginning of an American values agenda and a template for what you can expect from this Congress," added Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina.

Pelosi and other party leaders, surrounded by many of the 42 Democratic House freshmen whose victories in November gave the party back the majority it had lost in 1994, spoke as the House was concluding debate on an oil industry tax bill, the last piece of the six-bill package. The legislation, approved 264-163, rescinded $14 billion in tax breaks for oil and gas companies and put the money into an alternative-energy development fund. Thirty-six Republicans voted for the bill, while four Democrats voted against it.

Over the past two weeks, the House has passed bills putting more of the Sept. 11 commission's recommendations into law, raising the federal minimum wage, enabling Medicare to seek discounts on prescription drugs, expanding embryonic stem cell research and cutting the cost of college student loans. And separately it passed new rules that crack down on lobbyists and reinstate pay-as-you-go budgeting rules.

An average of 63 Republicans of the 202 House GOP members joined the Democrats on the six pieces of legislation.

The measures face uncertain fates in the narrowly divided Senate, and the president is cool to some of them. Pelosi made sure the package was passed before Bush comes to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to lay out his legislative agenda in the State of the Union speech.

"It is obvious the proposals we have made enjoy very substantial support of the American public," said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland.

Hoyer's office kept the official clock that marked how much of the first 100 legislative hours had passed before all six bills were passed and sent on to the Senate. The final tally: 42 hours, 15 minutes elapsed.

Republicans scoffed at the clock, which they called a gimmick that ignored all the more mundane business the House does, enacting a resolution this week, for instance, saluting former heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali on his 65th birthday.

Republicans also said it was easy to push through the bills since the minority was barred from offering any amendments that would take time to debate. And the bills never went through the normal committee hearing process despite Pelosi's pledge to run a more open, civil House respectful of minority rights.

"I wish I had a calendar like their clock. My knees would be 32 years old," wisecracked the 51-year-old Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga. "I'm very proud of the way they can defy time."

By any measure, the Democrats made their goal. The House had been in session 87 hours -- including time for speeches and ceremonial tasks -- when the oil tax measure was approved.

"Showing a new Democratic majority she can win, I'd give her an A," said Barton, a senior Republican who chaired the Energy and Commerce Committee until the GOP lost their majority.

"Showing the country she can set an agenda, a B," he added. "But for an open legislative process in the House so far, it's an F or an F-minus."

Hoyer said the Republican criticism of his 100-hour clock was sour grapes. "No matter how they want to count it, no matter how much fun they make of it, we made it in under 100 hours," he said.

Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio said that by pushing the early legislation through, Pelosi had run roughshod over her promise to run a more open House. "I understand the need for the majority party to make its move and make an impression," he said, "but we're short-circuiting democracy here."

Pelosi and Hoyer pledged they will allow committees to do their work and be more open about allowing Republicans to offer amendments on the floor.

Hoyer said he is meeting with Democratic committee chairs weekly to devise a longer-term legislative agenda.

Pelosi again Thursday backed a nonbinding resolution opposing Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, which the House expects to take up in a few weeks after it moves through the Senate.

Hoyer said he expects appropriations bills for the next fiscal year to start moving through the House, legislation that will give Democrats a chance to place their spending priorities in bills and show how they will pay for those priorities.

He said he also foresees more legislation on health care, perhaps a bill that would allow Medicare to set up its own prescription drug plan for seniors, further action on making college affordable, further oversight on Iraq, action on the prisoners being held in U.S. military custody at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and a start on an immigration package.

On Thursday, Pelosi said she wants a sweeping bill on energy independence and global warming to come to the House floor by early summer. "By working in a bipartisan way and by engaging the American people, we will have good news to report by the Fourth of July," Pelosi said.

'Six for '06' agenda

The House passed on Thursday the final piece of Speaker Nancy Pelosi's session-opening agenda promised by Democrats during the midterm elections that led to their majority control of Congress. The six bills and the votes for approval were:

Putting in place recommendations of the Sept. 11 commission -- 299-128